Thiruvananthapuram: PM Narendra Modi will on Friday dedicate the Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport to the nation. The project spearheaded by the Kerala government is being developed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The private partner in the project is Concessionaire Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited.
Port to transform India’s role in international trade, shipping
The Vizhinjam International Seaport will place Kerala on the global maritime map. AS Suresh Babu, former MD & CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), was quoted by ANI as saying, “.In 2014, the fourth tender was out, and almost five leading companies qualified in that tender. Only three of them purchased the tender documents. But finally, the price bid – Adani had submitted and the agreement was signed in September 2015 and started in December 2015.”
He expressed satisfaction at an international transhipment port being built in Vizhinjam. Praising the Adani Group, he said, “This is a project for India, and Adani being the concessionaire, I am sure that with their expertise, they’ll be able to do a good job here. By seeing the difficulties faced by the concessionaires, only Adani could do this project because they know Indian and Kerala’s conditions, and they have expertise in this field.”
Adani Ports, which is behind the project, is the country’s largest port developer. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 8,867 crore. The port received its commercial commissioning certificate on December 3, 2024. This was after a successful trial run.
Until now the Colombo Port in Sri Lanka was handling 75 per cent of India’s transshipment containers. This is set to change following the opening of the Vizhinjam Seaport on Monday. India will thus also save up on foreign exchange and revenue.
